Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Brisbane's Louvre Affair


 
Since when did the Louvre have a palm tree out the front?  Don't worry, Paris as you know her has not turned on her head.  Nor has someone cheekily transplanted leftover palms from this year's Paris Plage or made off with specimens from the Jardin des Serres d'Auteuil.

Au contraire, I thought it would be fun to show you another little Paris-flavoured local attraction. This is Parliament House in Brisbane, the seat of Queensland government.  Built in the 1860s after Queensland's separation from New South Wales in 1859 {yes, this has been a year of 150th celebrations here in the Sunshine State ~ we know how to party}, architect Charles Tiffin was said to be inspired by the Louvre, while giving his design a colonial nod.  The beautiful City Botanic Gardens are across the road, and the Brisbane River runs virtually alongside this gracious old dame.  And it's less than ten minutes around the river from our petite Eiffel Tower, so a visit there will fit nicely into our itinerary!
Posted by at 2:37 PM

19 comments:

  1. I thought that was a Paris Palm. And, that the Louvre was bigger than shown here.

    ShSh, how large, typically, is the artwork that accompanies your posts?
    ReplyDelete
  2. GReat painting as always.
    It's making Brisbane, in addition to the weather that seems rather "mild" for down under, an attractive spot for a pleasant and interesting trip !!!
    ReplyDelete
  3. Cafe ~ you're such a worldly-wise pup! This illustration is 8" x 7" [19.5 x 17cm] ~ they vary in size ~ sometimes maybe as small as 4", and no larger than A4/US letter size.

    Marylène ~ definitely, please add Brisbane to "the list". Spring and autumn are the best seasons to visit. Mild and wonderful! :)
    ReplyDelete
  4. You show your city off so well, Shell! Still think the main attraction in Brisbane for me would be . . . you—but I can see there are lots of things to point a camera at, as well as charming places to just hang out.
    ReplyDelete
  5. Alexa--there we go thinking alike again!
    ReplyDelete
  6. How nice to find so many French influenced things in Brisbane.

    Marylène, Alexa, Petrea and I all seem to be on the same wavelength. Brisbane is very charming especially as seen through your eyes. I would like to see more. Now I need to finish looking at all the links. I like lots of links!
    ReplyDelete
  7. Love when blogs teach me little geography lessons! Know so little about Australia (shameful. Blame our our pathetic, provincial American education system). Thanks, Shell.
    ReplyDelete
  8. You, P, and Virg all had local Paris-esque attractions on the brain today. How funny.
    ReplyDelete
  9. Alexa, Petrea ~ aww, thank you! And yes, it's a wonderful place to just 'hang out'.

    Cali ~ it was a bit of a link-fest. :) Always happy to be under the influence ~ the French one, of course!

    Margaret ~ it's good for me, too. Geography and history were never my fave subjects, so I pick up all kinds of interesting things through blogging!

    Hiker ~ oh, I saw Petrea's 'snap', but I usually visit V's Paris blog ~ I shall pop over to Alabama and look ~ ta!
    ReplyDelete
  10. Wonderful! I love the idea of a Louvre-inspired building in a place that has palm trees. Brisbane is sounding more and more like my kind of place!
    ReplyDelete
  11. Hi Katie, safely home from your beautiful travels! I'm sure you'd love visiting here.
    ReplyDelete
  12. ShSh, I love Café's nickname for you!!! Yes, the three of us are all on the same wavelength as usual! Now consider this, Luxembourg Gardens HAS Palms! I don't know if they wheel them away in the winter but they've got em. I'll send you a photo of course. Bonne journée (I'm sure something about that is wrong but I don't have time to look it up.)! :)
    v
    ReplyDelete
  13. I love how you make everything so light and quirky, even concrete and history. It's a tonic.
    ReplyDelete
  14. It's still me - I've been looking at your sidebar, and in particular those zazzle stamps. They are such a good idea (and yours are lovely) - someone needs to start selling Irish stamps like these and I'll write more letters.
    ReplyDelete
  15. Someday, when I have enough money to build the house of my dreams from scratch, I think I'll make it look exactly like that. SO pretty, Shell.

    But first, must save money to go to Brisbane...
    ReplyDelete
  16. Virginia ~ well, I'll be!! I'd never have thought there was such a palmic proliferation in Paris. {Yes, I'm rather fond of Cafe's nickname for me. :) }

    Mise ~ thank you, that's lovely!! Did you bring the Bombay Sapphire?

    Mise ~ hello again! I wish they made those stamps in other currencies ~ I'd love some for myself.

    PCN ~ yes, keep saving. I want us to go to next year's Writers' Festival together! And yes, we shall eat Moreton Bay Bugs!
    ReplyDelete
  17. Oh, that would be a dream for me! I saw Gregg Hurwitz after he got back from the festival and he was still raving about how great a time he had over there.
    ReplyDelete
  18. Shell, this is just lovely. I can attest to the fact that Brisbane is a very pretty city; sub-tropical with so much lush vegetation everywhere and the stunning Brisbane river flowing through it; a city cat (catamaran) experience is almost as good as a cruise along the Seine.
    ReplyDelete
  19. PCN ~ I'm glad Gregg had such a great time here. The lifestyle and vibrant arts scene are becoming alluring drawcards.

    MmeB ~ sadly everything's dry as a biscuit at the moment, but the lushness will return pretty quickly once we have some rain. Say, why don't we go for a CityCat ride together next time you're up here ~ that would be fun!!
    ReplyDelete

Merci, grazie, thank you for joining our conversation lounge. Your smile lights up the room. Even more beautifully than our crystal chandelier. x

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...